Esquire: Why the "Session" Beer Trend Makes Zero Sense

Well, I for one appreciate your comment as you've saved me a lot more biting my tongue and canceling of posts.

 

That article basically highlights how the American "session" beer is a lot different than in Europe. It's basically the American mentality that the writer disagrees with but is also a part of, himself.

 

There are beer nerds who would never of buying a 15pk of All Day IPA cans at $15.99, but the same beer nerds wouldn't blink an eye at paying $30 for a 25oz bottle of 5% Cantillion. If lower ABV bees aren't worth the price, then why people willing to shell out ridiculous prices for guezes and lambics?

 

Sessioning and session beer seems like two entirely different things to me. Especially in places like the US where binge eating is almost a custom.

Sessioning sounds like a term people use to justify their binge drinking and make it sound elegant.

A session beer is not something you necessarily binge on and you may only have one or two during your drinking session because you don't want to be impaired.

 

I don't so I can't answer authoritatively but perhaps it's because they're good. Most of the "session" beers I refer to are IPAs.

 

Depends what you're doing. I rather slam a few "session" beers instead of having to drink Coors Light or Bud Lights after softball and be able to drive home. Not going to drink DIPAs or imperial stouts in that type of setting.

 

I disagree. I like my low abv beers just fine.

 

You are very incorrectly stereotyping "Today's US craft drinker" if you think the majority want the "Top 20 8% double IPAs." That may be true of your typical craft beer drinker who spends a lot of time on Beer Advocate (which seems to be clouding your perception of a "US craft drinker"), but all it takes is a look at the actual numbers and see that the best selling brands from almost every craft brewery are their lowest ABV offerings: Founder's best selling beer is All Day IPA, Boulevard's best selling beer is Boulevard Wheat, Sam Adams best selling beer is Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada's best selling beer is Pale Ale. I could go on and on and on if you'd like. Please keep your stereotypes of "Today's US craft drinker" to yourself, as it makes you sound foolish and certainly not in tune to the average craft beer drinker in the US.

 

According to the author, Coors Light / Bud Light are session beers.

 

I'm not talking about "taste" or whether a beer is good. Let's leave taste completely out of the equation here. You said "but it's the principle and the idea that you are getting less value with the lower ABV beer." To me, that implies you think you are getting a better value when buying a higher ABV beer that costs the same prices as a lower ABV beer. I think that's pretty common amongst people who are looking at a "session" vs. other beers. They think high ABV equals better value, so they don't buy session beers.

 

Yeah. I've had many long Coors light "sessions" in my day.

 

Correct. It's all in the perception. And perception is a powerful sales tool.

 

Session beers are not a trend. They have existed for the entire history of beer. Being able to drink more beer in a sitting without getting too drunk is a good thing. There is a time and a place for big beer, and a time and a place for small beer. If anything, the recent increase in "session" craft beers is just craft brewers finally catching up to history. After the "bigger is better" mentality displayed during the craft beer boom, a *VERY* slight shift to session beers is refreshing. The big beers are still out there. We just have more choices in the lower ABV range, especially more hoppy choices. It is a good thing that lower ABV beers need not be bland anymore. You can get a good hoppy session beer now. Nothing wrong with that, and only a moron would think more choices makes "zero sense".

They have some real idiots working at that Esquire rag.

 

Suppose you are out for an evening with friends at your favorite bar.

You'll be there about 3 hours, and will be driving yourself home.

Assume you are a 180 pound male.
Assume an integer number of full US pints (i.e. no partial pints)
BAC calculator used is: http://www.autoevolution.com/bac/

To remain legal to drive, in those 3 hours, you could have
4 pints of 4% beer (e.g. Surly Bitter Brewer, UK pub ale);
3 pints of 5% beer (the so-called "standard drink" ABV);
2 pints of 8% beer (e.g. Heddy Topper);
1 pint of 13% beer (e.g. Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout).

If you can nurse one pint of beer for 3 hours while socializing with friends in a bar, ... well, good for you, I guess.

 

lol now that's funny. But you get my point though.

 

You just need to have them fill multiple 4 oz. pours in the tiny snifter you brought with you. Problem solved!

 

Lots of good reasons why low ABV yet flavorful brews have a place. Golf, crab feeds, fishing excursions, long sporting events. Its nothing more than a macro swill equivalent for someone wanting craft style flavorings vs. swill.

 

I thought I was the only one! It's nice if people like those beers, but my God, that's not exactly what some of us are talking about. Thank you for making this comment, I feel better about myself now. Phew.

And yes, I realize my avatar is of a Gose. I love Gose, it's a nice low abv style. But it's not something I'd want four of in a sitting. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy one.

 

http://beerblog.dallasnews.com/2014...-the-most-popular-beer-style-in-america.html/

"IPA is consistently the top selling craft beer style in America, representing 18.4% of total craft beer sales in 2013, according to the Brewers Association’s 2013 Annual State of the Industry."

The IPA is the best selling craft style in the US. This includes all craft drinkers in the US, not just those on Beeradvocate. While I don't have the breakdown of which IPAs those are off hand, I imagine the average abv of those IPAs are not below 5%, since it includes all IPAs.

I e-mailed Victory last year and their best selling overall beer is Hopdevil, a full strength IPA. This is one example of a major US brewery's top selling beer. Golden Monkey is their best selling bottle. I can provide the e-mail if you like.

As far as Sierra Nevada, read below for more information, I imagine Torpedo is nipping at Pale Ale's heels in sales.

"Torpedo has soared to become the number one selling IPA in off-premise retail accounts, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. The beer lands ahead of many well-known competing products, including Lagunitas IPA, Stone IPA and Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

Sales of Torpedo have been nothing short of spectacular, booming by over 50 percent in both 2011 and 2012, while sales are currently up 25 percent year to date in 2013."

 

I agree - those are all valid situations where it would make sense to go with a low-ABV option. But to me, responses like this are missing the point a bit. It makes session-strength beer sound so... functional, when in my mind it's anything but.

To flip it on it's head, it would be like me saying, "yeah you know imperial versions of particular styles definitely have a place. 30th birthday parties, stag-dos, weddings, got a new job, lost a job etc".

But much in the same way that I'm sure you (and most of BA) would (rightly) disagree with me on that last part, I disagree that session-strength beers exist for the sole purpose of being a second-rate choice only to be drunk in certain situations (which I agree you didn't openly come out and say, but is the implication here, and in a lot of responses in this thread).